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Pitch Black
Pitch Black (known in South Korea as "Wild Black" and also known in Canada as "Alerte Noire") is a Mountain Dew flavor that was first released in October of 2004 as a limited edition Halloween flavor in the United States and Canada. It returned for a limited time along with Supernova and Typhoon during Back by Popular DEWmand in Summer 2011. The flavor returned again for DEWcision 2016 to compete with Baja Blast. Pitch Black won, making it a permanent flavor. In early 2019, Pitch Black was discontinued in most of the regions except for the Midwest. Description Mountain Dew Pitch Black is a Mountain Dew variant that had a black grape flavor mixed with Dew. The Tagline was Black Grape in the United States and Canada. It became Citrus and Dark Fruit in the United States since 2016. The International version is also Grape Citrus flavored. History It was originally released as a Limited Edition flavor for Halloween in 2004 and was brought back with an added sour bite as Pitch Black II for Halloween in 2005. The original, non-sour Pitch Black was re-released in 2006 as a limited edition Slurpee form under the name "Mountain Dew Pitch Black Freeze", which was only available at participating 7-Eleven convenience store locations. That same year, the original Pitch Black was released in South Korea under the name "Wild Black" and described as "A blast of Grape Flavor." Six years later the original Pitch Black saw another limited return to shelves in 2011 as a part of the Back by Popular DEWmand promotion along with Supernova and Typhoon, which lasted until July 25th of that year. Pitch Black was also released in New Zealand in 2011 until it was replaced with Passionfruit Frenzy in late 2012. It was also released in Malaysia. It was also released in the Philippines in 2014 with LiveWire during the summer months as a permanent flavor. It was also the first time in the Philippines to release a different flavor. Pitch Black together with Live Wire was featured in DEWmocracy Singapore. It won and was now a permanent flavor. However, it disappeared in 2014 but returned as a 7-Eleven exclusive in 2017. In December 2015, Mountain Dew announced via their Facebook page that 1,050 people would have the chance to win a special limited run of Pitch Black by posting why they wanted Pitch Black and using the hashtag #WeWantPitchBlack in the post. The flavor was released again in 2016 for the DEWcision 2016 promotion alongside Baja Blast. This promotion involved a voting poll for fans to vote on their favorite of the two flavors via Twitter hashtags and other social media sites. The winner of the promotion was made permanent on store shelves. Pitch Black was declared the winner in a live announcement on July 18, 2016, beating Baja Blast, thus making it a permanent flavor. As of May 1st, 2019, in a Reddit post, a Pepsi employee claimed that Pitch Black had officially been discontinued due to low sales throughout its permanent release. This has appeared to be somewhat of a misnomer, though - Mountain Dew officially claims it has not been nationally discontinued yet, and several people have still managed to find unexpired 20oz bottles and 12 packs, albeit very sparsely, along the Midwest region. Canadian Release In October 2004, Pitch Black was released in Canada for Halloween. However, it was released in caffeine-free only due to health restrictions in Canada which prohibited Caffeine in Mountain Dew. Soda Fountain Release Speedway Release In January 2016, Pitch Black arrived at select Speedway convenience store locations in the United States as a fountain drink (and in some locations as a freeze beverage). It was expected to leave Speedway once the DEWcision 2016 promotion began. However, most, if not all Speedway locations that sell Pitch Black, have continued to offer the flavor while coinciding with the DEWcision 2016 promotion. As of April 13th, 2019, it was confirmed by Speedway themselves that Pitch Black was later replaced by Cyclone, as the new Speedway exclusive drink. Convenience Stores Release Pitch Black was also available from some soda fountains in select Circle K, Maverik, Sheetz, Cumberland Farms, Pilot/Flying J gas stations, Kum & Go, Blake's Lotaburgers, Stewart's gas stations and more. It was later in all of those convenience store chain locations. As of May 24th, 2019, Pitch Black is still available in select Sheetz convenience store locations. 'Trivia' *Pitch Black was a black grape flavored soda, now, it is Citrus and Dark Fruit since 2016, which is actually dark purple in color. By looking at the bottle with very little light around it, it would seem black, hence its name. *Pitch Black is one of six grape flavored Mountain Dew variants (see "Related Flavors" in the infobox). *Pitch Black was a permanent flavor in New Zealand until it was replaced with Passionfruit Frenzy. However, LiveWire and Code Red still remain. Voltage (which goes under the name "Electro Shock"), remained a permanent flavor until 2014 when it was replaced by White Out. *It was one of the most frequently reappearing 'Limited Time' flavors, counting spinoff flavors and various international appearances. As of now, Pitch Black has been made permanent in the Mountain Dew lineup in the United States, its homeland (Including Speedway, Circle K, Sheetz, 7-Eleven, and more). *The Creature From The Black Lagoon or "Gillman" was somewhat of a mascot for Pitch Black & Pitch Black II as it appeared in a number of advert pieces holding the soda. *This flavor was the first Halloween themed flavor, the second being Pitch Black II, and the third being VooDEW. Category:Flavor Category:Discontinued Category:Purple Flavors Category:International Flavor Category:Loot for Labels Category:Back by Popular DEWmand Category:DEWmocracy Singapore Category:Unleash Your X Category:7-Eleven Products Category:Speedway Products Category:DEWcision 2016 Category:Fountain Drink Category:The Walking Dead Category:Every60Seconds Category:Past Flavors Category:Holiday Flavors Category:Freeze/Slurpee Flavors Category:Discontinued Freeze/Slurpee Flavors Category:Halloween Category:Summer Flavors Category:2004 Category:Limited Edition Flavors Category:Limited Edition Freeze/Slurpee Flavors Category:2011 Category:2016 Category:Canada Category:Sheetz Products Category:Sidekick Bottle Designs Category:Circle K Products Category:Dew Nation Rewards Category:Other Bottle Designs Category:20 Oz. 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